POEMS OLD AND NEW
They fitted with never a wrinkle ; his boots were up
to the thigh ;
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark
inn-yard ;
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all
was locked and barred ;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be
waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair, i o
And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable wicket
creaked,
Where Tim the ostler listened ; his face was white
and peaked ;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy
hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's red-lipped daughter—
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber
say—
" One kiss, my bonnie sweetheart, I'm after a prize
to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the
morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through
the day,
Then look for me by moonlight, 20
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should
bar the way."
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